Say No To Government Healthcare Price-Fixing: Reject Colorado’s HB 25-1174

Governor Jared Polis and Colorado Democrats are proposing a top-down healthcare price-fixing system.  Implementation of such a program would distort the Centennial State’s healthcare market, shortchange doctors, and interfere with patient care. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance (TPA) – along with many Colorado hospitals, health insurers, small businesses, doctors, nurses, and small businesses – urge Denver lawmakers to reject this harmful proposal for several reasons.

First, this proposal follows a pattern of bureaucratic mismanagement that has left many Coloradans uninsured. This mismanagement has put a strain on the state’s hospitals and the healthcare system. While other states took steps to shore up their Medicaid programs following the government’s COVID-19 health emergency, Colorado has failed. Under Governor Polis and Colorado Democrats, the state has been bogged down in administrative problems and outdated technology. As a result, nearly 400,000 Coloradans are left uninsured. Consequently, Colorado has disenrolled one of the largest numbers of people from Medicaid in the country.

Second, other states have attempted similar proposals, but all have failed. In Oregon, which set the cap significantly higher than what Colorado is proposing, more than 60 percent of hospitals have negative margins. Further, many are in danger of becoming financially insolvent. Hospital closures are leaving major cities without care. As such, the state ranks among the worst in the country for the number of hospital beds per capita, second only to Washington state.

Third, government-mandated healthcare prices will shift costs to employers and limit patient services. This bill would cap rates for state employee and small business plans, but ultimately shift costs to the largest segment of the payer mix – those who receive insurance through their employer. The inevitable shift of costs to businesses will impact their ability to provide employees with other benefits and pay raises as inflation and the rising cost of consumer goods continue to affect Coloradans.

Fourth, this proposal would be devastating to the 70 percent of hospitals in Colorado with unsustainable operating margins. Enacting this price-fixing scheme could push them to close or reduce service lines. Hospitals have also not been immune to inflation. The Colorado Hospital Association notes that hospital operating expenses increased by 39 percent from 2019 to 2024.

Finally, this bill picks winners and losers by exempting some hospitals but targeting others. The bill targets large urban hospitals under the false premise that they are financially healthy. Meanwhile, it exempts critical access hospitals while still targeting some rural hospitals that don’t meet the bill’s exemption requirements.

Colorado patients can’t afford another experiment in government-directed healthcare. We urge Colorado lawmakers to reject this misguided and dangerous bill.